Sea Circle dar, mid-1496. It had been five years sihe Dofmingo Homing family caused a stir by trying to return to Mariejois.

  Acc to the inal course of events, by 1493, Dofmingo would have grown tired of watg his father, Homing, tinuously fail, bming him entirely for their family's downfall. In his frustration, Dofmingo would have killed his father in North Blue, severed his head, and brought it baariejois, hoping this act would allow him to recim his pce among the Celestial Dragons.

  But things had pyed out differently, thanks to Cudius's involvement. Over the past few years, many aspects of the situation had ged.

  For one, Cudius had secretly sent people to look after Homing and his family. The man had once done him some small favors. Cudius didn't want to see him meet such a tragid, nor did he want his unlucky cousin, Dofmingo, to be driven to the point of murdering his own father and falling into an irredeemable darkness.

  Thanks to Cudius's quiet interventions, the Dofmingo family mao live somewhat detly in North Blue. While they weren't living in luxury, they were at least able to eat meat three times a day.

  In fact, if it weren't for Homing's stubborn pride, the family wouldn't have struggled so much. Celestial Dragons like Cudius had been helping them i, but Homing, being the hardheaded fool he was, refused to fully accept the assistance. Cudius could only offer them small amounts of money and send people to deal with minor problems from behind the ses. Beyond that, there wasn't much he could do.

  Homing, having no real skills to make a living, spent his days doing menial jobs in the local town with his sons, scraping by with the little mohey earned.

  Meanwhile, Cudius had grown. He was now a young man at the age of seventeen, and the st traces of his boyish features had long since faded. His appearance had undergone signifit ges over the past five years.

  First, his height had shot up. He was now over 2.5 meters tall, with no signs of slowing down. It wouldn't be surprising if he reached the "standard Admiral height" of three meters before his twenties.

  His physique had developed well too. His muscles were strong but not bulky well-defined and athletic. He was her fat nor too lean; his body was well-proportioned. Cudius had always been a handsome boy, and over time, his features had matured. While he still bore a resembo the Dofmingo of ter years, he cked that sinister, devilish aura. Instead, he radiated a sense of fiderength, and warmth.

  As for the person he was currently sparring with on the deck of a luxurious ship flying the Wover's fg, it was her than the beautiful Stussy, a rising star in CP-0.

  In the past few years, Stussy had aligned herself closely with Cudius. Though she was already quite capable on her own, being a part of CP-0 and handling several signifit missions, her retionship with Cudius had elevated her status even further. She had bee one of his trusted fidants.

  inally, Cudius hadn't inte Stussy under his wing so quickly, but she seemed that Cudius was a different kind of Celestial Dragoh a future worth betting on. Over time, she'd positioned herself squarely in his camp, and now, she ractically part of his inner circle.

  On the deck, Stussy unched a swift attack, her fingers coated in Haki, brushing past Cudius's short blonde hair, narrowly missing his ear. Before she could follow up, Cudius grabbed her arm with a firm grip, the sound of bones creaking under pressure. Despite the pain, Stussy mao free herself by kig Cudius in the chest, but as she nded and tried tain her footing, she saw Cudius grinning at her.

  "Too te…" Cudius said with a smirk.

  In the moment, Stussy felt an invisible force strike her in the chest, sending her flying off the ded crashing into the sea below.

  Cudius ughed, shaking off the bat stanot far away, his butler, Nia, rushed forward with a bck mink coat, draping it over his shoulders as she asked with , "Yhness, are you alright? She kicked you pretty hard just now."

  Cudius chuckled, "I'm fine, just a little sore."

  As if oussy climbed bato the deck, soaked from head to toe, looking like a wet cat. With a pout, she pined, "Yhness! I'm a woman, you know! 't you go easy on me?"

  "Hahaha! I believe in equality, Stussy. No special treatment just because you're a woman," Cudius teased, still grinning.

  Stussy gred at him as she rolled up her wet sleeves, revealing her arm, whiow sported five dark bruises in the shape of Cudius's fingers. She winced as she rubbed the sore spot. "Your Armament Haki has gotten seriously strong, Yhness. Even with Haki and Iron Body, I still got hurt. If I were anyone else, my arm would've snapped."

  Cudius raised his arm, flexing his fingers as a yer of bck Armament Haki coated his skin. He nodded in satisfa. "I've gotten the hang of Armament Haki and Observation Haki, but I've heard there's a higher level to Armament Haki…"

  Stussy nodded, expining, "Yes, Armament Haki has three stages. The first is coating using Haki to enhance your attacks, like when you grabbed me just now, even though you're a Logia-type Devil Fruit user. The sed is hardening, where you cover parts of your body in Haki for enhanced defense and attack. The third is emitting Haki, allowing you to strike from a distance, like what you just did."

  Cudius already knew most of this, but he smiled and said, "It takes time to fully master Haki. What I used just now wasn't Armament Haki, though. I'm still not at that level it was one of my abilities."

  "Ah yes, the 'Vitality Bomb,'" Stussy said with a smile.

  Cudius nodded. Just as he was about to tihe versation, Nia pointed out, "Yhness, we're almost there illo Isnd."

  illo Isnd, a famous hot spring isnd in the New World, ur tourist destination. It wasn't too far from the Red Line, a quick seven- ht-day sail on a fast ship. But Cudius hadn't e for a vacation he was here to meet an old friend.

  That friend was her than Monkey D. Dragon, son of Vice Admiral Garp.

  Cudius hadn't seen Dragon sihey parted ways in the hospital at Marineford, but they had stayed in touch through phone calls. Over time, they had bee genuine friends.

  Earlier that year, a major event had shaken the Naval Headquarters: Dragon, who had been in line for a promotion to Admiral, had suddenly resigned from the Marines, much to the shock of the higher-ups. Despite the efforts of Sengoku and Zephyr to ge his mind, Dragon had walked away from it all, and shortly after, he disappeared.

  Cudius hadn't heard from him in a while, but about two weeks agon had reached out, asking him to meet on illo Isnd for an important discussion. Cudius, intrigued by what Dragon might have to say, had agreed to the meeting, which is why he was now in this part of the New World.

  As they approached the isnd, Cudius smiled. "Finally, after so long at sea, we're here. I wonder what Dragon wants to talk about this time."

  Before Cudius could say more, the phone worm oable rang. Expeg it to be Dragon, he reached over and picked it up. To his surprise, it was Dofmingo.

  Cudius grinned and asked, "Doffy? What's going on? Need some help? You know your cousin's always here for you."

  There ause oher end. Then Dofmingo's voice came through, quieter than usual. "Cousin... I ate a Devil Fruit."

  Cudius's smile faded slightly. He sighed, "And?"

  "I'm leaving home. I 't stand it anymore. I'm doh Father and Rosinante. I o get away from this life… this isn't who I am…"

  Cudius wasn't surprised. He khat Dofmingo's personality didn't mesh well with the humble life Homing and Rosinante were tent with. He had been waiting for this moment.

  "So, what's for you? Need my help?" Cudius asked gently.

  "You're really going to support me?" Dofmingo asked, sounding surprised.

  He had expected his cousin to try to talk him out of it or offer some kind of advice. But Cudius wasn't questioning him at all.

  "Doffy, you're my brother. No matter what you decide, I'll support you," Cudius said with a soft smile.